Vise-Grip locking pliers=battery terminal clamp?

[beercollector]

The negative battery cable terminal on my 1990 300zx will no longer stay securely connected as of Sunday night, and after parking it for a day and thinking about a fix, I used a set of adjustable locking pliers to hold the terminal on.

The terminal is one of those soft copper or brass deals that has a crack in the bottom part, and there's no slack so I can't cut it off, strip the wire, and connect it to one of those cheap lead replacement terminals.

The pliers are securely on there, and they even fit under the hood with it closed. It's a "MacGuyver" device but it's probably more secure than the original design without corrosion and cracking.

Can I get away with this for a week until I can take it to the shop and have the cable/terminal replaced? Or is this asking imminent doom to my car/engine/galvanic corrosion/shot bearings ect? It's not going to fall off anytime soon, at least.

Thanks!

 

[AcuraTech]

As a temporary fix - I say why not. It looks as if you are planning on getting the cable replaced soon, so if it holds it on for now all the better. No it's not going to hurt anything.

Now if this were the positive cable I would say no due to the chance of it arcing out on a metal part somewhere. Negative cable is not a big deal at all.

 

[NYEngineer]

Just make sure it's secure. If it's loose under a load, like when starting the car, it's bad to be loose on either cable.

 

[Donald]

I would say yes, but also might duct tape it so if it does loosen and fall off it does not short + to -. The cable should be easy enough for you to replace?

 

[alreadygone]

As I've mentioned in other cable/terminal threads. Deka makes a replacement end that's far superior to the quick-fix bolt on lead ones. It has a 6 inch wire pig tail with a positive connector end to fasten to present cable after you've cut off bad end. Then a snap together plastic box fits over cable-to-pigtail junction. These are a permanent fix for about $7-$10 that most anyone can install.
http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/assets/base/BatteryCables(PackagedandBulk).pdf
Bob

 

[beercollector]

Just found a battery shop that stocks that product line, I had never heard of it before, thanks for the info.

I checked out the rest of the catalog and something on there will work for sure, I'll take a trip over the hill this weekend.

On the plus side, the vice grips compression on the terminal has provided better grounding and I am no longer having fluctuating/surging idle from whatever undiagnosed electronic part was causing it.